MembersMessianic Jews and Judaism, It’s Complicated

I am grateful to Adv. Michael Decker, a young lawyer from Jerusalem and an outspoken member of the local Messianic body, for stimulating a discussion that led to this article. We realize that many Messianic Jews may not fit into any of these categories, but hope by spelling them out to encourage further discourse.

Judaism is a pagan, satanic religion

Historically, this view is held by antisemitic Christians around the world, and can still be found in some churches until this day. The notion stems largely from the errant theological position that Judaism resulted from the Jewish rejection of Jesus (actually, the foundations of modern Judaism developed during the times of exile some 450 years BC). In this view, the Jewish rejection of Jesus was mankind’s greatest rebellion against God, making Judaism the ultimate antiChristian religion. There are many Messianic Jews in Israel who consider Judaism to be filled with satanic or pagan rituals. Some are former Orthodox Jews who come to faith in Jesus and wholly reject their religious upbringing. On the other...